site.btaJustice Ministry Proposes Amendments to Penal Code on Animal Cruelty

The Justice Ministry has proposed an amendment to Article 325b of the Penal Code related to acts of cruelty against vertebrates, the ministry said on Monday. According to the proposal, the penalty for cruelty against a vertebrate should be imprisonment from two to eight years and a fine ranging from BGN 2,000 to 10,000.

The effective Article 325b of Bulgaria’s Penal Code says that anyone who, acting in cruelty against a vertebrate, illegally causes the death of the animal or a severe or lasting harm shall be punishable by imprisonment of up to three years and a fine from BGN 1,000 to 5,000. The punishment shall be imprisonment from one to three years and a fine from BGN 2,000 to 5,000 when the act has been committed: by a person who carries on a business activity or exercises a profession related to raising or taking care of animals; in a manner or by means which pose danger to the life of people or animals, by inflicting severe agony upon the animal, or committed with cruelty; in a public place or in the presence of a minor; repeatedly.

"This is a doubling of the upper limit [of the penalty], allowing courts greater flexibility in individualizing sentences, considering the specific degree of public danger posed by the offender," Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev explained. The current penalties do not provide enough discretion for courts due to the small difference between the minimum and maximum sentences, he added.

"The proposed measures reflect our determination to counteract such acts, which shock society and demonstrate a persistent disregard for public order, a sense of impunity, and unprovoked cruelty," Georgiev said.

Stricter penalties are also being proposed in cases of extreme cruelty toward animals when the act is recorded for distribution or committed for financial gain. In such cases, the proposed penalty would be imprisonment from three to ten years and a fine ranging from BGN 5,000 to 20,000.

The proposal follows the recent arrest of two individuals in Pernik on charges of killing animals for payment. The Regional Prosecution Office of Pernik, 28 km west of Sofia, ordered the arrest of a man and a woman for killing animals in a particularly cruel manner. The torturous acts were performed on various vertebrates such as guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs and albino mice, and the footage was sold to customers worldwide. The 26-year-old woman, who was the mastermind, and the 35-year-old man filmed the scenes in rooms rented by them. The authorities found a computer and a smartphone holding gigabytes of footage of atrocities committed on animals.

"The case from March 14 in Pernik shows an extremely sadistic attitude toward animals, which, in addition to not being an isolated incident, was also filmed for financial gain. That is why we are proposing new provisions in the Penal Code that directly address the recording and distribution of torture and abuse of animals for payment," Georgiev said.

The minister has also requested data from the prosecuting magistracy on the number of reports and cases of animal cruelty under Article 325b over the past three years.

"Together with the prosecuting magistracy, we will analyze the cases and trends to fine-tune the legal framework," Georgiev further explained.